Tennis star Casper Ruud had a promising start at the Italian Open. The World No. 4 reached the semi-finals after his straight-set victory over Francisco Cerundolo. On the question of his upcoming clash withHolger Rune, he stated that he doesn’t share a close bond with the Dane. 

The Norwegians had a somewhat underperforming start to the clay season. At the Monte-Carlo Masters, he lost the round of 16 match to Jan-Lennard Struff. His Barcelona Open title expectations were cut short after he faced defeat at the hands of Francisco Cerundolo. Later, the 24-year-old had an early upset in the first round of the Madrid Open. With back-to-back disappointments on clay, the critics questioned his level of preparation for the upcoming French Open. 

At the Italian Open, Ruud has managed to book a semi-final meeting with the 20-year-old, Holger Rune. The Dane overcame the challenge of six times champion, Novak Djokovic, in the quarter-final match. He expressed his satisfaction about playing his best tennis against the defending champion.

“It’s really a big win for me. Obviously, I did it last year in Paris as well, but every match is a huge challenge for me when I play against Novak. He’s one of the greatest that’s ever played the game. I knew I had to be at my best and I said it yesterday, and I was today. I’m super proud of myself and I enjoyed every moment out there”, he said in his on-court interview.

Looking at their ATP head-to-head record, both players have faced each other four times. Since their first meeting at the Monte-Carlo Masters in 2021, Ruud has held a match-winning record of 4-0 over the Danish player. At last year’s French Open, the World No. 4 defeated Rune in an intense battle in the quarterfinals. However, the match led to an off-court rivalry, as the Dane accused Ruud of ‘misbehavior’ in the dressing room. The Norwegian responded by refuting the accusations and stating that World No. 7 should stop creating stories of his own.  

During his post-match interview, Ruud stated that their relationship is currently ‘quite’ peaceful and that they share respect for each other. He added that their achievements are a symbol of Scandinavian success and that they hope to end their match on a friendlier note than last time. 

Ruud won his first title of the clay season at the Estoril Open. He claimed his victory by defeating Miomir Kecmanovic in straight sets. 

Also read: Will Rafael Nadal play the French Open 2023?

Casper Ruud expressed his views on Rafael Nadal’s pre-match routine

Casper Ruud had an incredible run at last year’s French Open. The Norwegian player reached his first Grand Slam final and had to compete against his ‘idol,” Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard played “electrifying tennis’ and registered a straight-set victory over Ruud. During the reunion episode of the BreakPoint series, the World No. 4 shed light on how Nadal’s pre-match routine doesn’t have much impact on the match outcome. 

The US Open finalist had his first ATP head-to-head with Rafael Nadal at last year’s French Open. On the question of getting intimidated by Nadal’s pre-match warm-up, the Norwegian player stated otherwise. He said that the Spaniard’s record of 14 Roland Garros titles and a match record of 105-3 in Paris are the ones that terrify other contenders. 

“I have seen it hundreds of time before so it wasn’t really a surprise. People say I already lost the match before going on court and that might be true, but if I had won it might be like ‘Casper won because he stayed cool’, you can turn it around however you want”, he said during the Break Point reunion episode.

“I mean obviously he killed me and destroyed me, but I don’t think it was because he did those steps in the locker room…people might think that, but I don’t think that. I think his match record of 105-3 at Roland-Garros is intimidating enough as it is”, Ruud further added.

Ruud will be facing Holger Rune in the semi-final match of the Italian Open. It will be their fifth ATP clash 

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